WS game 5. You’re Bud Selig...

[rmiller]

Well, needless to say, there are varying opinions on the weather situation in Philadelphia. Should they even have started the game in the first place? Does this mean an advantage for the Rays? Did Bud Selig get very lucky when the Rays tied it up?

Apparently the weather is supposed to stay crappy as November approaches. What a pickle, eh? What to do now?

[awarsoca]

i think he got really lucky when they tied it. No question the game should have started but I think they should have had a guy on the weather radar starting about the 3rd and called this before it becme official. He got luck y it was tied when he actually had to cal the game.

[wjr953]

I think Bud Selig's comments after the game were interesting too. He said that even if the game were stopped with the Phillies leading 2 to 1, the game would not have been called official. He said that he would not let the deciding game of a World Series end on a rainout. Why is is that ever since Bud Selig has been commissioner of baseball, several high profile games have ended up turning out just plain inexplicably weird?

The other thing that I found interesting was that the bookies in Vegas paid out based on the final score after 5 complete innings, i.e. Phillies 2, Rays 1. If you bet the Phillies to win straight out, you won your bet. And the game isn't even decided yet! The reason that was given was that because they based their decision on the official rules of baseball, which state that a game is considered "complete" when called with one team leading after 5 full innings have been played. Of course, the other factor that may come into play (I assume) is that the betting "books" might have to be settled by days' end. I'm not 100% sure on that but I do know this, the whole thing is one giant mess for everyone involved, except maybe for the networks.

br

[rmiller]

Yeah, Selig has been criticized about saying he would not have called the game due to rain, when the Phillies were ahead after 5 complete, essentially re-writing the rule book. But I agree. I don’t think it’s within the spirit of the rules to end a clinching game of the World Series early due to rain. How weird would that have been? But you better believe he was relieved when the Rays tied it up.

This will continue to be a problem. When I was a kid, the Series was over by the middle of October. Someone told me that if the World Series goes 7 games next year, it is scheduled to end on November 4th- that’s if there are no delays. In the cold weather cities without domes, that’s just asking for stuff like this.

Tonight's "game" shouldn't be weird at all , if they get it in.

[BretMan]

I find the whole "controversy" much ado about nothing. The media always loves a good controversy to generate interest and generally exhibits a lack of knowledge of the official rules (I offer Tim McCarver as a prime example).

MLB changed their rule about suspended games in 2007. The rule no longer states that if a game is called after five innings, but before a subsequent inning is completed, that the score reverts back to the score at the top of the incomplete inning.

The newer rule plainly states that if the game is called at any point after five innings and the score is tied, it becomes a suspended game. You can look it up yourself- MLB rules are on-line at their web site and the rule is 4.12(a)(6).

Las Vegas bookies and the correct rule being applied aside, it is reported that Selig met with representatives from both teams before the game where it was agreed that the game would under no circumstances be called prematurely due to to weather.

Add to that the fact that there is no rule in book about how long a rain delay can last. During the season, it isn't practical to wait a day or two to resume the game. When there are no other games being played, this isn't a problem.

Given that all parties agreed on those conditions up-front, and that ultimately the suspension was in 100% compliance with the rules, I don't have a problem with this. The regular season rules about suspeded or shortened games take into account the fact that there are thousands of games to be played and you can have significant scheduling problems without some solid guidelines to follow.

When there are only two teams left, those scheduling problems simply don't exist.